Inori wo
by Pairou
Summary: Title changed from Wards and Warnings. Hired to put up wards around the Burrow, Kurama finds himself drawn into a strange war he's not sure he wants to be involved in... YuYuHP crossover.
1. Ward Specialist

**Inori wo**

[Disclaimer Goes Here.]

Chapter One : Ward Specialist

* * *

Bright green eyes stared fixedly at the blue sky. Sprawled out on the bright grass, Harry lazily picked out shapes in the clouds, smiling almost dreamily. A gentle breeze rustled the plant life around him and played with his hair.

He had always felt at home in the burrow; the falling-over house held most of his fondest vacation memories. The front yard, littered with old boots and chickens. The orchard that hid his and the Weasleys' Quidditch games. The garden where he lay now, with no chores or homework to do. Ron had fallen into a light doze under a bush nearby, and a lawn gnome attempted to wake him, giving up when it caught Harry glancing at it.

A faint voice coming from the house drew Harry's attention away from a fluffy Hogwarts (or it may have just been a bunny) to where Mrs. Weasley was waving a wooden spoon in his direction. He waved back and she disappeared.

"Ron," he said lightly. "Wake up."

The redhead mumbled a bit and flopped onto his side.

"_Ron_ I think it's lunchtime."

Harry couldn't remember Ron moving so quickly, even when faced with death eaters. With a grin forming on his face Harry followed him through the back porch and to the kitchen.

"Mu~um," he heard one of the twins bellowing from the stairs, "what's for lunch-"

A crash.

"Oops."

"Sorry Bill!" Two voices said in unison.

The kitchen could only seat eight, but with Mr. Weasley and Percy at work and Ginny on a girl's day out with Hermione and Mrs. Granger in Muggle London, the kitchen was far less cramped than usual. Everyone quickly took their seats at the table, mouths watering at the sight and scents of rolls, lasagna, meat pies, and several types of juice.

"What's the occasion, mum?" Bill inquired, as the red-haired matron absently hit Ron's hand with the spoon when he reached for a roll. "Company?"

"Indeed," she answered, putting dessert in the large refrigerator. "Professor Dumbledore is coming, should be here any minute now..."

Harry and Ron shared looks of surprise. This was unexpected...

* * *

"Tea?"

Yukina set two Japanese-style cups of cold (was that frost on the rim?) koucha, bitter black tea that was just the thing for the stifling summer weather.

"Thank you, Yukina-san," Kurama said pleasantly, taking one of the cups. She bowed, gave him a smile, and bustled away.

It was a hot, humid July in Tokyo. While Kurama was accustomed to it, often taking refuge at the temple for the refreshing coolness the ice maiden could offer, his guest seemed to be taking it a bit worse. Kurama gave him a polite smile.

Remus smiled back, discretely trying to fan himself a bit with his napkin.

"I was rather surprised to find a temple so large here," he admitted. "This seems almost too calm for its surroundings."

"It is a big larger than many people expect, but this sort of thing is common here." Kurama almost considered setting the cup against his forehead- with the wizard here, the stranger-shy Yukina refused to allow even a bit of cold into the room, and they relied on the outside breeze and a small fan in the corner of the room to keep the edge off.

Remus drank most of his tea and sighed. "I am no diplomat," he said. "I cannot negotiate very much either. But I am here to ask if you have considered the request from the Ministry about the wards."

Kurama looked thoughtful. "No offense intended, Professor, but why yourself, and not Ministry personnel?" He asked pointedly. "You told me you are a teacher in a school, and not a government employee."

"Ah, yes." Remus almost fidgeted. "The Minister of Magic often seeks advice from the headmaster of Hogwarts, my school," he admitted. "Professor Dumbledore, the headmaster, asked me personally, and the Minister agreed."

"Mm." The redhead set his sights outside, a breeze partly cooling his skin. He laced his fingers. "I have thought about this request, and have met with my usual employer to talk about this. It _is_, after all, rather far from here, and I do have other pressing matters to deal with."

Remus was silent, patient. Green eyes turned to meet his briefly.

"I will look at the land, and the existing wards. I will draw up a list of needed materials and subcontractors and present the landowners with a quote. I have taken all of the details into consideration and am willing to negotiate. _However_, I am not promising to do any of the work at this time."

Remus looked relieved. "That is all the headmaster asks," he said.

Kurama smiled pleasantly and stood. "I will be arriving at the Leaky Cauldron in a day's time, as requested. I hope you will be there to greet me, as it will be quite reassuring to see a familiar face."

"Of course," the older man agreed quickly. He took this as a dismissal and drained his tea, then stood and bid Kurama farewell.

As a cool breeze filled the room, Kurama drank his tea and began to make plans.

* * *

"Lunch was wonderful as always, Molly," Dumbledore said pleasantly as she set tea on the table.

Mrs. Weasley gave him a smile. "It's always nice to have you." She took her seat.

"And now, on to business." The headmaster turned to Harry. "As I'm sure you are well aware, the Ministry has been concerned about placing you here at the Burrow during the summers."

Harry shifted uncomfortably. He really, truly didn't want to be taken back to the Dursleys', only to spend the rest of the month in solitary confinement.

"Yeah," he mumbled. Ron frowned.

"So what, they're gonna make him go back?" He demanded.

Mrs. Weasley shushed him. Bill and the twins, however, seemed to share his thoughts, and none looked very happy. Dumbledore sipped his tea.

"After speaking with the Minister and his advisors and of course Arthur as well, the ministry has agreed to let Harry stay here, now and on future occasions- as long as some precautions are put into place," he added quickly as the family's faces brightened.

"Precautions, professor?" Harry asked anxiously. Mrs. Weasley seemed just as put off as he did, as similar thoughts ran through all of their heads- Ministry officials visiting the house, monitoring charms on the Weasleys; someone as _awful_ as Umbridge coming to stay with them.

"After some research, we have found a warding specialist in Japan. If he will add some wards to the house and property, then the Ministry will allow Harry to stay."

Inside, Harry felt a hot surge of anger. It was as though he were a prisoner. He should be able to pick where he spent his summers, his guardians the Dursleys hardly caring as long as he was away from them.

The fireplace in the kitchen flared green and Remus's head popped in.

"Professor Lupin!" Harry and Ron chorused.

"Hullo Weasleys, Harry, headmaster." The face looked far less exhausted than Harry remembered. "I have the young man here, if you would like to see him now."

Dumbledore turned to Mrs. Weasley, whose face was guarded. Warding would be expensive, Harry realized with a dawning chill in his stomach, especially the type the Ministry would find acceptable. He squirmed miserably. The woman patted his hand absently.

"Yes, of course," she said calmly. "I'll make some more tea, shall I?"

Remus murmured something to someone out of sight; the twins moved out of the way to allow for more space as Remus stepped through.

Behind him stepped in a teenager, who brushed some dirt from his clothes as the fire behind him vanished. He straightened and looked at the occupants of the room.

Even with bright red hair that rivaled the Weasleys', though it was much darker, his features didn't match the room at all. A small nose and unblemished, pale skin; green eyes, surprisingly large for an Asian and lighter in color than Harry's. He stood almost as tall as Bill and didn't slouch. His clothes- a soft yellow tunic and white pants- were untouched by the fireplace and looked expensive. He carried a leather messenger bag.

"This is Shuichi Minamino," Remus introduced quickly. "Minamino-san, this is headmaster Albus Dumbledore, Molly Weasley, and her children Bill, Ron, Fred and George. And this is Harry Potter."

Mrs. Weasley set down an extra cup and walked around the table. "Pleased to meet you, er... Minamino… san?" She attempted, copying what Remus used in his introduction.

"Just Minamino is fine," Shuichi said pleasantly, shaking her hand. "Please, do not worry about Japanese customs for now, they are far too confusing." He gave her a dazzling smile and she seemed to relax.

"My husband will be here soon," she said. "There is a table outside, where it will be more comfortable. I made tea."

"Thank you."

And that is where Mr. Weasley found them- sitting outside in the garden, several silent wizards, a witch, and the foreigner, making small talk.

Kurama watched the group before him. They seemed honestly curious about him, and he was perfectly fine with telling them all about his life in Japan- everything that fit his public image and government records, that is. And learning about Harry potter had been interesting, to say the least. It certainly explained why the British government seemed to want to keep the boy all but locked up. He practically_attracted_ trouble!

When they began discussing the wards, the husband and wife became visibly on edge. It was apparent from the home that they were not a family with a large amount of disposable income. And Kurama's work, rare and more reliable than most, was very expensive- not that the family knew this yet.

The eldest of the children- Bill, a few years older than Kurama's human years- worked as a cursebreaker for a wizard bank and asked him good questions about his work. Kurama chose his words carefully.

"I do not usually agree to do wards," he admitted. "In Japan... well, I suppose you attempted, and failed, to contact the Japanese magic community?"

At Dumbledore's nod, Remus admitted, "our letters were all returned. Nobody's been able to find any leaders in the government concerning magic of any type, either."

"That is because there are none."

A stunned silence. Kurama drank his tea and continued.

"In Japan, magic is linked closely to religious beliefs. As such, there is almost no need for ward specialists- the temples and shrines in Japan are capable of warding their areas. And if not, then the general population is unaware of any reason for doing so."

"Er... sorry," Harry piped up, having been mostly silent until now, "but why did you become one, then?"

"Because of demons."

"_Demons_!" The group reflexively shuddered.

"Yes. As you may not have been aware, the demon world is separated from this one by thin barriers. In Japan the barriers are very weak, and liable to leak. It happens often enough that mixed in with the Japanese people are a number of demons."

He brought his bag up onto the table, rifled through it, and took out a map of mainland Japan.

"This area is Tokyo." He pointed on the map. "Because of its dense population, many demons are drawn here- both to feed," a pause as the children shuddered, "and as better cover. It is also an area prone to leaks. I am employed to ward the larger of the leaks and keep an eye out for trouble in Tokyo."

"Employed? But there is no magic government," Mr. Weasley pointed out.

Kurama smiled ruefully. "I'm afraid my employer's details are classified," he said. He turned back to the map to forestall any other arguments of that nature. "I am not the only one- others in my group protect the rest of Japan. Although admittedly we are a bit lacking in the smaller island areas," he murmured the last bit more to himself, and made a mental note to ask Koenma about that later.

"And so, I do not often to wards for others. And I have never done one outside of Japan." Unless one counted the Makai...

The couple shared a look, and Mr. Weasley sighed. "How much will this cost us?"

The children glanced at each other. Bill frowned. Usually the adults wouldn't discuss money in front of their sons (or daughter), but they knew the group would listen in anyway.

"Taking everything into consideration- average measurements of the property, types of wards, Mister Potter's background (for safety measures, understand), and the fact that I may want to pay for college in the next few years-" this caused surprised looks- "I'd say that it would cost, at the very lowest end, upwards of fifteen thousand galleons. Not including the extras that the Ministry will no doubt require for this to pass their inspections."

It was indeed expensive- Harry did the math quickly, and it was a whopping 75,000 pounds.

"What!"

"Mister Minamino, that's-"

"Surely you aren't serious-"

"I might be able to afford that," Harry interrupted. The Weasleys made to argue.

"As it is the Weasleys' home, I can only accept payment through them."

As the family fell silent as stone, Kurama added pleasantly, "Which is why I am willing to do this for free."

"_For free_?" Bill and the twins' jaws had dropped.

"Provided, that is, if it's no trouble that I stay here until the work is completed? I'm afraid there are no hotels nearby and Floo doesn't quite agree with me..."

Mrs. Weasley was on her feet and ushering the foreigner into her home almost before he had finished his sentence.

Ron gave an almost strangled laugh.

* * *

"...and the bathroom is on the third floor," Mrs. Weasley ('Oh goodness just call me Molly, dear,') finished. "Percy- he's the third oldest, he's rather busy lately- recently got an apartment so you can stay in his room, it's on the second floor next to the twins'." She bustled about, an amused Kurama's gaze following her about the house as she gathered up linens and made Ron and Bill clear out the room a bit and move things to the attic.

"The kitchen's-"

"-always open," the twins chimed in.

"I hope I will not be in your way," Kurama called up the stairs as Mrs- as Molly appeared again. "This shouldn't take more than a week or two at most."

While Harry and the twins distracted him with idle chatter about the house and questions about the wards, Kurama tuned an ear into the kitchen, where Arthur, Remus, and Dumbledore were talking in hushed tones that would usually be unheard from the living room.

"-sure he can be trusted?"

"Doing this for free, he's giving up a lot of money-"

"Employer's confidential, who _knows_ what-"

"-excellent sources, and he knows master Genkai personally-"

"Genkai!"

"He looks so young-"

Satisfied, Kurama drew his entire attention back as Molly handed him a sandwich.

"Oh, thank you very much, Mrs We- erm, Molly," he said politely. "I'm terribly sorry for the trouble, I haven't had lunch yet you see, with the time differences between here and Tokyo."

"Nonsense," Molly insisted, drawing up a few chairs with a wave of her wand for the rest of the group. "It's a very big help you're doing for us, the least we can do is offer up our hospitality."

"You mentioned needing some supplies?" Bill asked. "I have to get to Diagon Alley myself, tomorrow, if you would like."

"That would be very gracious of you." Kurama finished his sandwich and stood as Arthur poked his head out of the kitchen, checking up on them. "I'll spend the rest of the day seeing what I'll need, if M- Arthur wouldn't mind coming with me?"

"I'm free from work from now until Monday," he agreed, and led him out the doors.

Molly beamed at Harry, who smiled hesitantly back. As long as his wanting to stay at the Burrow didn't cost the Weasleys money, then he could ignore his guilt.

"I'll start on dinner."

* * *

_A/N: I used the Galleon Converter on the Harry Potter Lexicon to figure out the price Kurama would charge for his services; the Lexicon also tells how the Burrow is set up, which was a real help for knowing what rooms are where. :]_

_**Note: Fixed an earlier misunderstanding, thank you Darkdranzer :]**  
_

_I haven't written in months, busy with school in Japan. Speaking of Japan- I am a big fan of translating everything into English. However, there are some things that sound better in Japanese- traditional phrases, for example, as well as name suffixes, such as -san and others. I will leave those in Japanese, since the English counterparts are usually somewhat lacking._

_Drop me a review and tell me what you think!_


	2. Eyes

**Inori wo**

[Disclaimer Goes Here.]

Chapter Two : Eyes

* * *

"This is unlike you."

Kurama put the books and scrolls down on the bed and smiled.

"Hello, Hiei."

"Hn."

The demon flitted from the windowsill and to the bed, sitting on the headboard. Kurama didn't bother telling him to take his boots off as he usually would (_"Hiei don't get my bed dirty!"_), instead separating the mess of reading material and reference diagrams into neat piles. Hiei's experienced eyes- all three of them- took in Kurama's less-than-perfect hair; the barely visible signs that he hadn't slept as often as he had grown used to living with his mother- faint circles under his eyes, a vague tiredness in his voice, the paleness of his skin.

"You haven't been sleeping."

"I have." At Hiei's look he added, "Though maybe not as much as I should." The 'Glare' deepened. "Alright, so I haven't been sleeping."

"And this is because…?"

"Jet lag, I suppose. I've only been here a week. How did you know where I was?"

Hiei grunted and waited. Kurama was mostly human, but he was rarely affected by jet lag.

"Because I've been busy," Kurama relented. That in and of itself was another sign he was tired- he usually took pleasure in arguing with the shorter demon.

"The brat told me."

Kurama blinked at him, surprised. "Koenma-sama told you what I'm doing?"

"He told me where you were. I eavesdropped on the humans to find out what you're doing."

"Ah." The redhead continued sorting. "You know, if you want to stay and watch, you'll have to come through the front door and introduce yourself."

Hiei snorted. "What makes you think I want to watch?"

"You came all this way," Kurama pointed out, straightening up and stretching until his back popped.

"Hn. There wasn't anything else to do."

"I suppose." Kurama pulled his hair up, tying it away from his face.

Hiei suddenly let out an annoyed sigh. "Why are you making things so difficult? The wards you're thinking of doing would tire you out far too easily in this body."

"You've been doing more than eavesdropping."

"Hn."

Kurama shrugged. "Maybe I just decided to be benevolent."

Hiei smirked. "Innocence doesn't become you, fox."

"I have my reasons," Kurama said cheerfully.

Hiei leapt off the headboard and idly looked through the books on the bed. "I don't recall you ever offering warding before."

"It's a lucrative business." The (mostly-)former thief took a notebook out of a desk drawer and scribbled out a quick letter asking Dumbledore to come by in as he began the warding. The week of preparations was over, and the warding themselves would begin in a few hours.

"If you needed the money, you could sell some old treasures from the Makai, or just as easily steal it."

"Did you get here by plane?" Kurama asked suddenly.

Hiei twitched. Kurama bit his lip to keep the smile off.

"Perhaps," Hiei muttered.

"And how did that go?"

"...It's unnatural."

"Oh?" Kurama glanced at him, amused. "Humans us them all the time, it's far more 'natural' to use a plan than a portal."

Hiei glared. "It's a giant flying metal _THING_!" He snapped.

Kurama snickered.

"What did you find out about the Potter boy?"

The snickers turned into a cough. "Whatever do you mean?"

Hiei looked smug. Damn him.

"So it's the Potter boy that has you interested," he murmured. "You don't usually like to meddle."

Kurama sniffed and tossed his ponytail. "I don't _meddle_, Hiei," he argued. "...unless it benefits me in some way."

"Or intrigues you. Such as, say, peeking at a file in Koenma's office and seeing a note or two and deciding to investigate."

Kurama shrugged, admitting nothing and, therefore, everything. Hiei raised an eyebrow, urging him to explain.

"...The wizards have found the secret to immortality," the fox demon admitted. "And with all of their other hidden knowledge, I thought..." He trailed off there. He had already said too much. Maybe he needed more sleep...

Hiei was looking at him with a look he couldn't place, one that made him more than a little uncomfortable. He didn't like not knowing what others were thinking and while it was not rare that Hiei's emotions were largely unknown to him, the situation made it worse than usual.

"I have to mail this," Kurama muttered, turning away. "I'll let them know you're coming. Just don't forget to pretend to show up again. Around two or so."

For once, Hiei left without an argument, vanishing as though he'd never been there.

This was a side of Kurama that disturbed him more than anything.

* * *

"-And _that_ is why the Founders named Hogwarts, Hogwarts." Dumbledore popped a lemon drop into his mouth and offered Bill the bag.

"Ah, no thank you, professor."

They were sitting in a room in the Leaky Cauldron, the beds banished courtesy of Tom the barkeep. The Weasleys (except for Charlie and Percy- one was busy with dragons, of course, while the other couldn't be excused from Ministry work.), Harry, Hermione, and Remus were gathered around a large table, with Dumbledore at the head.

It had taken a little while for the Order meeting to end, the members to leave unnoticed, and for them to hide the evidence and call in Harry, Hermione, Ron, and Ginny.

As Dumbledore finished his story, a piece of notebook paper (strange for a wizarding bar) appeared in the air before him, floating gently down onto the table. The man read it and leaned back in his chair.

"That was Minamino. He writes that we have a half-hour or so." Dumbledore tapped his fingers together. "Since we have some time, Bill, how did the trip to Diagon Alley go?"

Bill sat back in his seat, looking thoughtful.

"It went normally enough. The transaction at Gringotts went smoothly. I didn't see how much he took out though. I could only identify a few of the things he got- anchor stones, purified water, erm... a purple ritual cloth, that sort of thing."

"Anchor stones are hard to find in Diagon Alley," Arthur mused. "Especially the amount Minamino mentioned he would need."

Bill coughed. "Erm, yes, but there were plenty of them in Knockturn Alley-"

"Knockturn Ally?" Ron butted in. "What about the stuff you couldn't recognize, how do we know it won't blow us up or something?"

"Ronnikins has a good point..." Fred admitted.

"...for once." George finished.

Ron glowered but his ears turned a faint pink.

"We could just ask," Hermione offered, glancing at Harry's carefully blank expression and knowing exactly what he was thinking. Ginny nodded in agreement.

Harry fidgeted in his chair. The annoying this-is-all-somehow-my-fault feelings were coming back and he was getting tired of it, personally.

"We still have time to just refuse," he said suddenly. "Um, I can refund what he spent with Bill and everything..."

Remus reached behind Hermione to pat him on the shoulder.

"Relax, cub," he said reassuringly. "Minamino's one of the best in his field, we've all done several background checks and everything's cleared."

"And Knockturn Alley's a pretty bad place, but it has some good stuff," Bill added. "Er, sorry Mum."

"He's right." Remus nodded. "Lots of experts head into there for the rarer things, and Minamino has already agreed to let us check everything for traps and curses. It's a bit rude, but he understands the need for security in this case."

"He's a nice boy." Molly murmured. "Helps with dishes and things and cleans up after himself in the bathroom."

Bill grinned. "And he's popular with the witches. He managed to gather a fan club while we were out shopping. We managed to lose them before Knockturn. The whole time he pretended not to notice."

Glancing at his younger sister, his grin widened and he hid his laugh behind a cough. She and Hermione had turned a bit pink and were carefully avoiding anyone's eyes.

"...Indeed." Dumbledore looked amused. He took out his pocket watch and glanced at it. "Well, we'd best be headed to the burrow. Gred, dear boy, if you would get Tom?"

The twins looked at each other, shrugged, and linked arms.

"Right-o."

"Be right back."

Kurama was polishing an athame when the group arrived through the living room fireplace. He smiled pleasantly at them and set the blade down.

"You're early," he said, standing and gathering the knife and a few other objects. "Would you like to check the materials now? They're outside in the garden."

"How exciting," Hermione whispered to Harry and Ron, eyes shining. "I wonder if I can write an essay about this for class later..."

"Hermione," Ron whined.

"You can't take notes." Harry reminded her, interrupting the fight he knew would be quick to start between his two best friends.

"Yeah, well..."

"For part of the process, I'll need help from a friend," the Japanese man was saying as they got outside. "I've known him since I was young. He should be here soon..."

"Of course, anything you need."

"The first step is purifying the tools." Kurama pulled a small mostly-empty vial of water from his pocket. "Blessed water is best but purified water is nearly as good.

"The next part is drawing the symbols and ward diagrams on the anchor stones and putting them around the edge of the property." He gestured towards the stones- they resembled river rocks more than magical specially-carved ritualistic tools. "These often come in different metals as well as the usual stone, and in various designs and colors. But since they'll be hidden after the wards are in place, these will do perfectly."

He looked over at Bill. "You are a cursebreaker, correct? I'll need some help drawing the diagrams."

"I'd be glad to," the taller man agreed. Kurama handed him a quill.

"Regular ink," he said, holding up a glass bottle, "with a bit of my personal energy infused in it. If there's ever a problem with the wards the chances are much higher that I'll be able to feel it even from such a long distance away as Japan."

"Impressive," Arthur murmured, looking curiously at the objects. There were small earthen bowls full of powders that stayed put even in the slight breeze, designed to draw lines between the anchor stones. An athame for symbolism- cutting the Weasleys' property away from the rest of the land surrounding it. There were small stones for calling energy and warding papers that would hang invisibly on the intangible wards, already covered in Sanskrit and Japanese writing.

"Amazing," Hermione whispered, and turned to Kurama, shyness forgotten in the pursuit of knowledge. "What is everything for?"

With a patient smile, Kurama began explaining the powders, athame, and other objects, interrupted when the sound of the regular proximity wards chimed twice. "That must be him," said Molly, turning and walking quickly into the house.

"He's early," Kurama observed, glancing at his watch. Then he paused. That wasn't Hiei's energy...

He looked up when Molly appeared with the newcomer and his eyes widened.

"Yusuke!"

* * *

_A/N: Aaand here's chapter two. Please let me know what you think. :] It's a little shorter than the first one I think, I haven't written anything other than drabbles in months..._


	3. Magic Winding

**Inori wo**

[Disclaimer goes here.]

Chapter Three : Magic Winding

* * *

If anyone ever asked him, months later, Kurama would say he wished he'd never taken that warding job at the Burrow. Though it had started off relatively hassle-free, even with the surprise appearance of one of his best friends.

Kurama was horribly surprised when the brunet showed up, if his sudden blurting out "What on _Earth_ are you doing here!" was anything to go by.

"I was bored," Yusuke said brightly, "and Hiei mentioned where you were."

He and Kurama turned as one to an area behind them, in the corner of the gardens, where the aforementioned demon had slipped in, bypassing all of the existing wards.

"Hn," he grunted. "He said he was bored."

"Indeed," Kurama sighed, and turned a dazzling smile on his companion. "Well, you can just make yourself useful, then. Here, grab a stone and start painting the ten-point three-circle mantra on it, I need four of those... Don't make that face, I'll let you stay for the rest of it."

"Yeah, yeah..."

After tossing a few smaller stones at Hiei and giving him instructions, Kurama turned to the group behind him, smiling charmingly. "These are my ... friends, Hiei-" he gestured- "and Yusuke Urameshi."

"Are they brothers?" Hermione asked dubiously, looking between the two with a thoughtful frown.

The two _froze_. Kurama suffered a momentary spasm in his eye as he wrangled control of his vocal cords to keep them from betraying his amusement.

"Erm?" He tried.

"Hiei and Yusuke Urameshi," Hermione pointed out. "Well, I don't know much about Japanese surnames, I suppose it's just common-"

"_Brothers_!" Yusuke managed before he cracked up.

Hiei was still imitating a statue.

"Ah. Yes. That was my mistake. Hiei's last name is, erm. He doesn't like it being known."

"_Brothers_ she said!"

"Privacy issues, you understand. He's like that."

"Hey, Hiei, did you hear-"

Hiei bounced a rock off Yusuke's head. The taller boy attempted (and failed) a tackle. Kurama sighed heavily, abandoning all pretense of dignity, and he turned to them.

"You _do_ want to stay here and watch the warding?"

The Weasley twins were snickering openly.

"He started it," Yusuke whined, the poster boy of preadolescence until Kurama gave him a Stare.

You didn't really want to mess with him when he gave one of _those_ looks, if you could help it. And generally, you could.

"So where d'you want them?" Yusuke asked brightly, waving one of the finished stones nonchalantly.

* * *

Harry was silent the next day as he watched the proceedings. It would supposedly take a few days of the same repetitive motions before the wards would be strong enough to Minamino's liking. They painted stones with strange symbols and then basically...

Stood there.

Same as they had the day before, and same as they would for the next few days after that.

Oh, they moved around sometimes, the Weasley-imposter waving his arms a bit and chanting something in several languages even the adults didn't fully recognize and glowing. The light was visible even through the steady, hazy rain that the country was known for. The glowing was kind of pretty in a way, really; all nice and sparkly.

If Voldemort, bless his blackened nonexistent heart, ever realized he'd just need to flash shiny things at Harry to distract him...

Harry snorted derisively, pushing away from the rain-blurred window and wandering downstairs to have some fruit and juice (not pumpkin thankyouverymuch, it just didn't taste right away from Hogwarts, really). He barely missed stepping on Crookshanks and ended up sprinting down the last few steps to escape the yowling cat, who must have been just as bored as he was.

"...can't make clothing out of vampire skin, Ron, that's just gross- morning, Harry," came Hermione's bright greeting from the kitchen. She scooped up Crookshanks with practiced ease before he could claw the wizarding world's savior to death out of spite, and rubbed his matted fur until he purred.

"Have some eggs," Ron said sleepily, and yawned, covering his mouth with a slice of toast. He was at least attempting to show that his mother had indeed once tried to teach him some manners, and couldn't be expected to get the hang of that sort of thing so early in the Saturday morning.

Harry smiled briefly at his two friends. He had been oddly subdued the past few weeks, mostly due to what could only be called some serious internal thinking. Or brooding, depending on which Weasley was following Harry around and pretending to narrate a documentary on his life. (He loved the family, but they had the oddest habits sometimes.)

"Thanks, Ron." Harry scooped some eggs out of the warm-charmed frying pan and piled bacon on top of it. He yawned widely and something cracked in his back, making him grimace.

"There's coffee in the pot," Hermione deadpanned.

Harry all but lunged for the coffeemaker and a mug. Hermione snickered.

"...It tastes like petrol," Ron said spitefully when Harry eyed his 'girly' pumpkin juice.

The brunette witch winked at Harry, nursing her own mug.

"It is the drink from the gods." The two said in unison, and nodded at the Twins as they stumbled in.

"What is?" George asked sleepily, scratching at his head and stumbling about the kitchen with Fred.

"Coffee, again," Ron snorted from buttering his third slice of toast. Wizarding youth got hungry, you know.

"Tastes-"

"-like petrol."

Harry rolled his eyes. The twins had become used to years of inventing and experimenting at night, away from prying eyes, and had shifted their biological clocks approximately eight hours forward (or back, depending). Because of this they usually had trouble waking up earlier than 3pm, and anything earlier than noon usually called for an all-nighter, to hell with sleep entirely.

The Japanese wizards, or whatever they were called there, refused to work at night to keep the shininess that Harry was entranced with from being noticed by muggles and wizards alike. And unfortunately for the twins it meant they'd be pulling several all-nighters for the next few days at least.

Harry drained his coffee and went to find his umbrella.

Kurama fed his energy carefully, slowly, into the wards. The reason the plant master was so skilled at this was because the very nature of warding was not unlike that of plants.

They had roots, from which veined out smaller lines into webs that contained the magic- in his case, energy- and purpose and intent. They had buds- trigger points that blossomed into action when prodded. Like a Venus flytrap, they had sensors that caused them to hone in on a target.

At the moment Kurama was developing the last of the veins and roots around the property, pouring in intent and energy and purpose (protectpreventdestroy).

There was a squishing sound behind them, cautious. Kurama tied off a few intangible (as of yet) loose ends and turned, smiling at the poncho-covered form.

"Hello, Potter," he said politely.

Yusuke waved cheerfully from under the umbrellas he was holding over his and Kurama's heads- any magic, even simple drying charms and rain-repelling spells- could render the wards unstable; the Burrow's mere presence caused Kurama to use as much care as he could.

"Er, sorry." The boy shifted a bit awkwardly and tucked some hair behind his ears. "Just wanted to watch a little, didn't mean to interrupt."

Yusuke grinned. "Come hold the umbrella then, my arm's getting tired."

"Alright."

Harry had to lift his arm rather high to get the umbrella up over the redhead, their difference in height soon giving him a cramp. Kurama seemed amused, even with his eyes closed and his hands held out towards the garden's boundaries. When Harry's arm began to shake Yusuke laughingly retook his position and waved him over to the small open tent they'd set up over the supply table.

Harry groaned. "Man, you guys are pretty tall for Asians," he joked.

"Pssshh. You're just a shrimp." Yusuke snipped back good-naturedly. "But at least you're taller than Hiei."

Harry's eyebrows furrowed. "Yeah... where is Hiei, anyway? I could've sworn I saw him here earlier."

"You did."

Harry jumped and barely managed not to squeak when Hiei was sitting suddenly beside him, suspiciously covered in... feathers?

"You have a letter, Minamino."

Kurama tilted his head in acknowledgement but didn't stop what he was doing.

"So," Yusuke drawled. "Is it really always this rainy?"

Harry grinned. "It's not raining that hard."

"Yeah well, it's still pretty wet out here."

"It can get pretty rainy," Harry admitted. "But it's not really... how about where you guys're from?"

"Japan?"

Harry nodded and Yusuke looked thoughtful. "Hrm... well, it's usually pretty nice in fall and winter, but once the rainy season hits, it gets kinda moldy."

Harry gave him a weird look. "Moldy?"

"Yeah."

"Ew."

Yusuke shot him a grin, and politely turned his attention back to Kurama. This was the job he'd been given, watching for drops in his energy stores that would need instant replenishing. Hiei's job was to keep an eye out for anything suspicious in the area, as well as make sure the Weasley twins weren't planning any pranks the group had heard much of.

Harry sat back contentedly and watched the dazzling display for another hour before the plant-master let his hands drop to his sides with a sigh.

"Is it lunchtime yet?" Yusuke asked hopefully.

"Not yet, but I'll see if we can't get something to eat. Do you want anything?"

"Biscuits." Hiei grunted, and Kurama rolled his eyes.

"Besides you. Don't think I didn't realize you ate another post-owl," he scolded.

Harry stared at him, and at Hiei, who still had a few feathers in his hair.

"You're kidding."

"I was hungry. It was going to distract K- Minamino. It was a win-win situation."

Was it just him, or did he sound almost petulant?

"No biscuits," Kurama insisted firmly, frowning. Hiei glared at him.

"So, Potter," Yusuke said brightly, slinging an arm around Harry's poncho-covered shoulders. "Any good places to eat around here?"

"I don't really get around this area much, usually just the Burrow." Harry admitted. "But I can probably make you guys something."

"Oh no, we're all right," Kurama said hastily, raising his hands, but Harry just shrugged.

"I don't mind, I like cooking. I don't have much else to do anyway, besides reread all my school books."

"And watch us," Yusuke added cheerfully. Harry looked sheepish and he snickered. "I know how you feel, man. I mean, it's so..." Yusuke's eyes looked at something far away. "...shiny."

The wizard couldn't help but laugh.

Harry loved cooking. He had hated it when he was younger, forced to turn raw material into delicious meals that he couldn't taste; and his short arms couldn't always reach high enough to avoid getting burnt on the stove. But at the Burrow, he had watched Mrs. Weasley hum cheerfully as she cooked, and had persuaded to let him help her out of habit. He'd grown to like it, and he'd gotten better during his time in the house.

He chopped up potatoes and carrots and set water boiling, humming along with the radio, his movements smooth and well-practiced and relaxing. It was rather a lot like potions really, adding ingredients at just the right times- don't overcook the potatoes, but the seasoning can't go in yet, the carrots won't cook all the way through if you wait too long... if it weren't for Snape, then he would have been top of the class.

He saw a rather awkward-looking figure in the corner of his eye and smiled at Urameshi. Hiei was standing in the doorway, and though Harry was certain he hadn't been anywhere downstairs a moment ago (his boots could be heard on the stairs when he walked slowly enough), they'd gotten used to Hiei being around... even when he technically shouldn't physically have been there.

"It'll take a while still," he said. "Er, sorry."

Urameshi scratched the back of his head. "Can I help?"

Harry grinned. "Sure," he said, waving him over. "Here, cut these really thinly, like this..."

Urameshi, it seemed, would have been as dismal at potions as Neville, if not worse; it only took seventeen seconds of Harry cringing before Hiei none too politely grabbed the knife from Urameshi and swiftly diced, sliced, and chopped up all of the remaining ingredients. They got into a small argument in Japanese and Minamino poked his head in just as they began brandishing silverware. He sighed.

"Please, no blood in the food. Thank you," was all Minamino said as he wandered away again.

Harry snickered softly. "Don't worry, if I put beets into it then nobody will know."

Urameshi laughed uproariously and Hiei sniffed and... flitted. Or something like that anyway. In any case, it involved his breaking physical laws and apparition wards. As usual.

"Oh- Hiei?" Minamino hurried back into the kitchen.

"Missed him." Harry dipped a spoon into the pot.

"He's up by the twins' room." Urameshi was bouncing by the pot. "He's making stew, in summer but..."

"It's chowder, not stew," Harry said, confused.

"It's white and it's got vegetables, it's stew."

Harry gave him an odd look and handed him a smaller tasting spoon. "No it isn't."

Minamino gave a strained smile. "It's a Japanese thing, Potter, don't worry about it- tell Hiei to give me my letter would you?" He ran back out again.

Harry blinked. "Why doesn't he just go up to the twins'-"

"Erm, yeah, no. They kind of creep him out. Don't tell him I said that."

Harry blinked again. "Creep him out?"

Urameshi grinned. "They like to stare at him a lot, especially when they're talking to him. In Japan that's kind of creepy. Man, this is good stew!"

Urameshi ran off to find Hiei and Harry sighed, shaking his head. Japanese people were so weird.

"So who's the letter from?"

Yusuke sat crossed-legged on Kurama's bed. He scratched at a loose thread on the coverlet and wrinkled his nose.

"You know, your room shouldn't smell like paper and ink."

"It isn't my room," Kurama reminded him, raising an eyebrow. "Weren't you helping Potter cook?"

"Yeah, well, I suck at it. Hiei did most of the work already anyway."

"Ah." Kurama looked through a few papers on the borrowed desk. "I've been meaning to ask you, by the way; how are you speaking English?"

"Oh, that." Yusuke grinned. "Well, when Hiei told me where you were I bugged the toddler into giving me something to help me fit in more. Cos like, I'd hate to let something slip in case someone around spoke Japanese, y'know? And he gave me some weird little medicine thing and there you have it. It'll wear off in a few weeks though."

"Impressive," Kurama murmured, and blinked at him. "You'd think he would have let us know he could do this last time we were stranded without an interpreter in China."

Yusuke's grin faded into a blank look, and then a scowl.

"Hey yeah!"

Kurama smiled at him and left the room to Potter's calls for food. Yusuke whined and stumbled after him, forgetting one important thing:

He still didn't know what was in the letter.

And Kurama would regret it a little later, not telling him.

* * *

A/N: Thank you all so much for your support so far. :] I'm so sorry this is late, I've done two international flights in less than a week and I've had finals and all sorts of things.

I hope this chapter is up to expectations; if anything I'm not happy with the way it ends, and it still seems too short, though it's longer than the others... It seems a bit boring too, though I hope I managed to flesh out Harry's side of the story a bit from the lifeless bit it seemed before.

Next chapter involves some action, so stay tuned. :]


	4. Who'd be Scared of You!

**Inori wo**

Chapter Four : Who'd Be Scared of YOU?

* * *

"Done, done, and _done_," Yusuke announced at last, flinging the back door open. The family sat nearby, and at his words they stood excitedly. Harry grinned at the exuberant boy, who winked at him. A flash of red appeared behind the Japanese teen. Ignoring them all, Kurama all but shoved past Yusuke, and ran up the stairs. They heard a door open and slam and then a loud thud.

"Oh my," Mrs. Weasley murmured, raising a hand to her mouth. "Is everything alright?"

Yusuke winced, recognizing that look after being around Shiori long enough, and rubbed the back of his head. "Er, yeah, sorry 'bout that. Warding takes a lotta power and all that, and he didn't want to pass out on your living room floor." He glanced up at the ceiling. "I kinda figured he'd make it to the bed first though."

At the Weasley matron's alarmed look, he raised his hands and waved them in what he hoped was a reassuring manner. "Don't worry, he's used to it. I'll go check on him and get him into bed real quick, yeah?" He hurried around and away from the family and fled up the stairs.

Still sitting, Harry nodded to himself. "We'll need some pepper-ups."

Ron clapped his friend on the shoulder. "We'll go and ask Madam Pomfrey for some, Mum," he offered, and they stood and went for the fireplace before she took out her mothering instincts on them or something equally as horrifying.

Left alone with Mrs. Weasley, Bill and Mr. Weasley gulped and began to back away. It was no use- they were forced into aprons and peeling potatoes in no time, no magic.

Hiei was nowhere to be found, having entered the room Kurama was currently passed out in through a window. The shorter demon sighed to himself and carefully arranged limbs around to a more comfortable carrying-position, effortlessly lifting the teenager into bed. He was taking Kurama's muddy boots off when Yusuke arrived, locking the door behind him.

"He okay?" He asked, looking unconcerned but for the slight frown in his lips and the furrow of his brow that said everything.

Hiei shrugged. "He warned us this would happen. It was a very intricate ward that uses a lot of power to get set up. He has it running off natural energy now."

Yusuke grinned. "Cool." He dragged a desk chair over to the bed by Kurama's head and sat himself in it, with what Hiei recognized as Yusuke's 'Won't Move Til He Wakes Up, And I'll Look Like I Haven't Been Waiting' pose. Hiei wouldn't admit that he had his own variation of it (where 'Wakes Up' was replaced by 'Can Breathe On His Own,' generally). He settled himself into the windowsill, his warded Jagan keeping watch over Kurama's energy levels, and began to wait.

* * *

Harry and Ron sat comfortably in the girls' room, Ginny braiding Hermione's hair for the sake of being girly. The latter only allowed it for the sake of female bonding. Well, that, and it felt nice.

"Argh," Harry groaned as his pieces were viciously wiped out on the chess board. "Seriously Ron, why do you even ask me to play? I never last a full five minutes against you!"

"'Tis for the ego, mate," Ron said sagely. "It needs to be stroked."

Hermione shot Harry a wink and a lecherous grin that caused him to snicker. Ron blinked cluelessly at them. Ginny smiled sweetly at her brother and undid her friend's hair, starting the soothing ritual over again. She briefly considered adding ribbons into the mix but decided not to push the older girl's tolerance level. Everyone remembered the day Molly Weasley came at Hermione with rouge and half the plates in the kitchen shattered before Hermione herself even knew what the matron was doing.

"Yeah, yeah." Harry reached onto the beside table and grabbed a bubbling pumpkin soda- it tasted rather a bit like old socks, but the fizzing sensation was worth it. It was the closest to a real soda that he could get, the Weasleys having never tasted the muggle drink in their life.

"When did the adults say the Ministry drones are coming, again? Friday?"

"It's been three days," Ron commented. "Shouldn't someone check in on Minamino already? It'd be bad if they came and he looked dead."

"It's been four days," Hermione corrected, her eyes closed in pleasure. "And Urameshi and Hiei are on top of it, I've seen them sneaking potions into Minamino's room when your mom isn't looking."

"I'm not entirely convinced that she wasn't pretending not to see." Said a familiar voice.

They all looked up in surprise. Minamino stood in the doorway, looking perhaps a little tired but otherwise quite healthy.

"I apologize for worrying anyone," he said pleasantly. "After all, I'm sure you have other pressing matters to focus on. You are going back to your school the week after next, correct?"

Ron let out an audible groan and even Ginny grimaced at that.

"I forgot my potions essay," the young girl admitted, tying Hermione's braid off and standing. "I'll work on it after lunch. Would you like some wizard's soda, Minamino?" She asked politely.

"I would love some, thank you," the tall Asian said smoothly, ignoring Harry's frantic motions not to drink any. As the girl smoothed her summer robes and slipped past him, Harry gave him a long look.

"Are you alright?" He asked, a bit awkwardly. "You were out of it for a while."

"He knew what he was getting into." Hiei appeared beside Minamino, looking indifferent.

"I'm fully charged and ready for the Ministry appointment the day after tomorrow." Minamino nodded. "I have to take care of a few things before lunch, please excuse me."

He smiled at them and walked away. Hiei grunted and stayed behind, eyeing Ron and Harry's game- or rather, what remained of it. He looked a little curious.

"What is that?"

Ron beamed at the shorter male and began setting up the game, explaining the rules with enthusiasm. Harry and Hermione grinned at each other and sat back to watch the game.

* * *

Kuwabara tightened the straps on his backpack, glowering irritably at the gloomy English skies.

"Why do I always end up finding everything out last?" The psychic whined to himself in his native tongue, causing a few people to stare strangely at the thuggish carrot-top.

With a last scowl, Kuwabara set off for Ottery-St. Catchpole, feet sinking into mud and splashing it onto his worn jeans.

* * *

Yusuke was, at that moment, heading away from Ottery-St. Catchpole. Kurama was busy, Hiei was having fun tormenting the youngest redhead boy by beating him continuously at his favorite game, and the rough youth didn't feel like going home before the government people came to look at Kurama's wards.

He had to hand it to his teammate- he was good at what he did. Kurama wasn't known in the group for his warding skills, something Yusuke had always assumed would be Hiei's forte. The quick little fire demon's transplanted jagan had a strange way of making energy bend the way he wanted it to, and the others often relied on him for that sort of thing. But Kurama had a millennia's worth of practice, which was… well, nobody really knew how much older the fox was, but that was at -least- a few hundred years more than Hiei.

There was something bugging him, though… something about Kurama taking a job like this, with no pay and a lot of time and energy and too much effort to be worth it.

Yusuke stretched his arms lazily over his head, popping his back in a few places, and yawned widely. He wasn't the thinker of the group, and gods forbid he started now, while he was on his (well-deserved!) vacation from anything supernatural or mission-related.

Even if it was boring.

Something flashed in the back of his mind, a warning light honed from experience and training, and Yusuke instinctively hit the mud face-first, rolling behind a thick tree as something cracked loudly, too close for comfort.

"What the hell!" Yusuke scrambled to his feet.

Several men in dark clothing- odd raincoats, perhaps; the cloaks didn't match the Weasleys' strange garbs- stood on the path Yusuke had just been on, magic sticks trained on the poor tree he'd chosen as a shield.

"Oi, I was walking there!" Yusuke trained a forefinger at the man in the middle, already gathering energy and letting it crackle around his hand, invisible but potentially deadly.

The men looked at each other, then at the middle man- their leader, the Asian youth assumed. The man nodded once.

"We are looking for a young man," he said, his voice steely-dark and ringing with a familiar tone.

Yusuke sighed to himself- a lackey. Whose, he didn't know, but he'd heard far too many of them (and fought even more than he'd let speak) to be able to recognize one.

"Yeah well, there's nobody around these parts. And watch where you're er… crackling." What had the twins called it, again?

The man in the middle kept talking. Lackeys, Yusuke had learned, were good at that.

"He is tall, with long red hair, and of Asian descent. Would you happen to know where he may be?"

Well why would they be aski- oh. Ohh. Yusuke sighed. Of course they'd be asking the Asian with the vague accent and glowing finger. He almost laughed- if they went to the Burrow they'd probably spend the next few hours trying to decipher which redhead they were looking for. Kurama could probably hide the accent if he wanted to.

"No, I don't. I'm busy, go bother somebody else, alright?" Yusuke wiped at the mud on his face as he turned swiftly on a heel (and slipped a little, but he was a bit too annoyed to mourn the loss of a potentially badass exit) and stomped away.

The annoyance very quickly turned to indignant rage when a bright red flash, accompanied by something neither in English or Japanese, hit him in the leg. Hard. And it _hurt_, damnit! In a millisecond Yusuke had grabbed some mud and thrown it with deadly accuracy into the nearest man's eyes. The man let out an embarrassing shriek and wiped his face furiously while the men opened fire. Ducking behind another tree, Yusuke let out an energy ambush of his own, cursing and taunting all the while.

The fight had probably lasted less than a minute before a booming voice shouted, "Oi!"

There was a mutual cease-fire and all heads turned to a tall redhead of obvious Asian descent. Yusuke's face split into a wide grin.

"Kuwabara," he chirruped, "when did you get here?"

"Uh… just now?" Kuwabara rubbed the back of his orange head. "So… who're you guys?"

There was a pause and the strange group huddled close.

"'E's a redhead, int' 'e?"

"It's not very long though is it. His hair I mean."

"Maybe he got a haircut?"

"He's got an accent."

The last argument won them over. With an overdone flourish the leader of the little gang turned to Kuwabara and said, "Our master has been looking for you."

Yusuke sniggered, knowing fully well where this was going.

"Eh, me? Why?" Kuwabara demanded, chest puffing out. "Oh, I get it. My reputation precedes me, yeah?"

Yusuke erupted into a strange choking cough. "Whoa, Kuwabara, man, if anything they'd be looking for me, alright?"

Kuwabara's eyes narrowed. "What didja say?"

"You get mud in your ear or are you just deafer than usual?"

"Hey!" Kuwabara pulled back his fist and was about to hit the laughing Yusuke when a man interrupted.

"We were instructed to look for a tall Asian man with red hair."

"Long red hair," Yusuke interrupted with a snort.

A short man sighed. "Did you perchance get a haircut?"

"No." The two Japanese fighters said in unison.

"_Maaaaan_," Kuwabara muttered darkly, his vision of grandeur spoiled.

"Well this is a pickle." A taller man grumbled.

"Indeed." Said a smooth voice.

All heads turned and Yusuke and Kuwabara beamed. "Kurama!"

Kurama seemed to have already recovered, or was faking it (years of practice had made him a master at the art). With his crossed arms and his cold green eyes, there was no doubt in the men's minds that they had found their 'victim.'

And said person was _not_ happy.

"I do believe I sent a reply to your master," he said frostily. "I have nothing more to say to him. Tell him that and leave me alone or you will see just _why_ he does not command me. Is that understood?"

Before they could answer, Kurama turned to his teammates. "Yusuke, show Kazuma the way back. Kazuma, we'll fill you in when I get back." He turned on his heel, executed the badass exit Yusuke had aimed for earlier, and vanished among the wet foliage.

The two Japanese boys shrugged. "Well, you heard 'im." Kuwabara pointed out. The men were already gone.

"Tch'. And they say _I'm_ the leader." Yusuke grumbled. "But hey, good to see you, man."

"Yeah." Kuwabara shoved his hands into his pockets. "I went to find you and your mom said you'd gone off somewhere again. So I bugged Koenma until he gave me a pill and some directions."

Yusuke laughed. "That's what I did. I went looking for Kurama. Did you know he can do some pretty awesome wards?"

* * *

Hiei was waiting when Kurama found the clearing. The redhead nodded to him and started scavenging. The fire demon flickered and stood beside him.

"What was in the letter?"

Kurama sighed softly, wiping his hands and looking up at the green canopy above them. He knew he'd regret the whole business.

* * *

_A/N: This is totally late, I know... thank you to everyone who commented on the update chapter (replaced with a real one! Huzzah!). I promised a long chapter but it seems this one is shorter than usual... I'm just no good at long goodies so I hope you can enjoy short chapters too..._

_Thanks to everyone who's stuck with the story with me, and look for the next chapter coming up soon! (And maybe an explanation of the strange letter, ooooh...)  
_


	5. Inspections

**Inori wo**

Chapter 5: Inspections

* * *

Kurama settled into a comfortable position against a tree.

"It started last March or so. Do you remember that side business I was running, the potions and demon supplies?" At Hiei's nod, the redhead continued with only a slight amount of visible guilt, "I got a request from a human- from England, of all places. A potions master from a so-called 'wizarding school' of England. He worked for two masters, and one of them was looking for a life-extending potion…"

It had been so easy for Kurama to get the supplies, and it paid quite handsomely- enough for him to start putting money away for college without having to dip into his secret funds from his past life- it was so inconvenient, having to find ways to get to his hiding places without anyone finding out. The drawback to the potion was that it would only add a few months at a time, and would wear down the drinker considerably. It was meant for a dying demon to handle his or her affairs when on the brink of death, not for a human to live forever. This had all been explained to the strange, batlike man, who had passed the information along to his second master. But a few months weren't enough.

Soon there were orders for more and more potions. And other things too- demon ingredients and supplies, such as demonic plants that no human would know about, or even demon parts like fingernails or tongues.

Kurama had refused. Of course he had- it would have meant death if discovered, and he worked too closely with Koenma Jr. to get away with it for long, for all of his stealth. All of the detectives were closely monitored by Botan and other ferry girls after Yusuke's demonic past was revealed.

Then began the stalking and constant bombardment of letters.

Kurama rubbed his temples. "It was easy enough to evade, at first. When they threatened my family, however, I was finished. About that time, I received an offer for warding here at the Burrow. Koenma Jr. actually asked me to come and check out the Potter child, in return for my family's protection. It was too great a chance to pass up- I can see if the boy has any potential for our type of work, I can look into developing relations between Britain and Japan, and in the process I can learn more about my former client and find a way to stop the threat without revealing why I was being threatened. Besides," he admitted, "I was bored."

Hiei gave him an incredulous look. "…You came to a foreign country to do an immense warding job for free, because you were bored."

"Only mostly." Kurama agreed.

The trees around them shook with laughter.

* * *

"Urameshi!" Kuwabara stormed into the kitchen two days later, furious. His bright orange hair clashed horribly against his skin, which seemed to have turned a horrible puce.

"What?" Yusuke turned from making a sandwich and stopped, then cracked up.

"It's not funny!"

Between gasps of laughter, Yusuke managed to say, "It wasn't me!"

"What on earth is- oh, dear!" Mrs. Weasley's hands flew to her mouth as she walked into the kitchen and caught sight of Kuwabara's new look. She stifled a laugh and tried to look stern. "My goodness, and the aurors and everyone will be here any minute!"

Kuwabara crossed his arms in a huff. "If it wasn't you, then who put that powder stuff in my drink?"

"Oh." Yusuke grinned sheepishly. "That was me."

Before Kuwabara could tackle the other boy, a bright light enveloped him and his skin slowly faded back to normal. The boy smiled brightly at Mr. Weasley, who coughed to hide his amusement.

"Yes, well. I suspect it was the twins' idea, hm?" He glanced back and allowed the two mirror images into the kitchen.

"Who, us?"

"Never!"

"We're wounded," they finished in a deadpan, pouring some water into their cups.

Kuwabara threw his hands up in the air and sighed.

The Weasleys took on the addition to their redhead collection easily. Kuwabara was tall, like Bill, and his hair was more their shade than Kurama's. He also had the temper to match even Ron's hotheadedness, as evidenced by the constant (outdoors, thankfully) roughhousing between him and the usually laughing Yusuke.

Of course, neither one thought it a good idea to bring up the attack by death eaters. Even a blind man could see that, for once, it was between Kurama and whoever had sent them. And _nobody_ wanted to be the one that got in between the fox demon and a hard place, so to speak.

Kurama poked his head into the kitchen. "Has anyone seen Hiei?" He asked. Everyone shook their head in the negative and he frowned thoughtfully, leaning against the doorway. "I guess he's just keeping out of the way then."

"It's for the best, he's _so_ not a people person." Yusuke crossed his arms and nodded to emphasize his own point.

The cracking sound of displaced air in the distance, as well as a faint but audible ringing sound, alerted the household to visitors just beyond the new wards and Kurama straightened, following the adults to the front.

"Alright, let's get the show on the road." Bill announced, striding out after them. Yusuke and Kuwabara shrugged at each other and headed out.

* * *

As the adults and Japanese teens went out to greet the three aurors and two officials, Harry, Hermione, Ron, and Ginny sat in the garden, nursing their strangely bubbling (and fume-expelling) wizard sodas. As soon as Ginny turned her head, Harry dumped his in the grass, which sizzled. Ron coughed loudly to hide the sound.

"You alright there?" Hermione teased, while Ginny just looked confused.

Harry cleared his throat. "Man, I really hope this works. I mean, if they don't think it's good enough, then Shuichi's wasted all this time and energy and supplies and stuff." He grimaced. "And then I can't stay here anymore, can I."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa." Ron thumped him on the back. "Let's not get ahead of ourselves there, mate. They haven't even seen 'em yet, and anyway, hasn't this been one of the quietest summers since ever?"

Hermione nodded. "He's right, Harry. Don't worry so much. That's my job."

"You do have a point there," Harry admitted.

"Besides, mum told me Dumbledore might be coming by too, and you know he'll help out however he can." Ginny said reassuringly.

"I'm sure," murmured a new voice. The four jumped, startled, at the surprise fifth addition to their table. Hiei sipped his own soda.

"Oh, hello Hiei," Hermione said politely, still wary of the strange boy that looked so young but so old at the same time. (Her theory, as she'd told the others, was that he was actually Dumbledore's age, but a horrible accident had permanently placed him in a child's body. Hiei, having been standing outside the door at the time, took pleasure in subtly 'proving' her right.)

"We thought you'd left." Ginny admitted. The two other boys watched in fascination as the short Japanese male downed his drink without wincing- or bubbling out the ears.

"I did. I came back."

There was a chuckled, "Eloquent as always," and the teens jumped again.

Ron frowned at Kurama. "Seriously, guys, make some noise or something will you?"

The redhead smiled innocently. "The others will be out here soon, they started asking some rather personal questions and I admit I threw Yusuke at them so that I could, er, quietly walk away."

"Literally, I bet," Hiei snickered.

Kurama covered his mouth and coughed lightly. "If he happened to trip into the older man with the unfortunate hairline, then that's his own fault."

The sound of the door opening signaled the start of the inspection. The young students stood and the group of five walked in a single line out toward them- three aurors following two older men, one rather short and round and resembling a balding bowling pin, the other tall, lean, and white-haired.

"Well, let's get this under way," said the tall man, who had been introduced earlier as a supervisor of some sort. His assistant nodded and looked around.

"And, er… Mister Potter?" He asked, unsuccessfully trying to hide his eagerness as he looked around at the young students nearby.

"Yes, sir," Harry said respectfully. He expected the starry eyes. He was used to it. Was he was _not_ used to, however, was the startled jumps the two men gave, and the suspicious looks of the three aurors. All five of them looked around, eyes landing everywhere but on him.

Harry, in turn, looked at his friends, who shrugged.

Kurama stood up and smiled. "I'm afraid that without being specifically keyed into my wards, sirs, you will not be able to see Mister Potter," he explained. "Though you will be able to hear him."

There were sounds of surprise all around. "That is impressive," admitted the shorter auror. "There are very few spells I know of that can replicate the effect.

"AAAAGGGGHHHHH!"

There was a blinding flash in the woods behind them and anyone who wasn't already standing shot up, wands in hand. The three aurors ran for the trees and Kurama held up a hand to stop Harry and the others from following.

"Watch," he said pleasantly. There was fumbling, then laughter. The aurors dragged someone back with them.

"Tonks!" Harry said, surprised, slipping his wand back into its holster. The woman looked around for him, blinking.

She was covered in vines and strange flora, which bound her tightly and lashed out a bit at the aurors. Kurama snapped his fingers once, then twice in succession. The vines slacked and slithered away, leaving the poor auror covered in friction burns, grass stains, and plant juice.

"What did you do?" Hermione asked in awe.

Kurama smiled pleasantly at the woman- Tonks- who blushed, embarrassed but unoffended.

"I'm assuming you are here for the inspection?" At her nod, the demon explained, "a simple function. The wards will not harm unless a danger code is put into place. That will stop any harm from anyone that manages to bypass the repelling wards and who wanders onto the property in more peaceful times."

There was silence; some impressed, some thoughtful. Tonks quietly healed herself.

"I think," the tall man said finally, "that mister Potter, wherever he is, will be quite safe here."

"Splendid," Mrs. Weasley said cheerfully, herding the group toward the house. "Come have some tea, then, won't you?"

Kurama shot Harry a wink and the wizard laughed as Ron tackled him with a happy shout.

* * *

_A/N: Hey guys! I revised chapter five a bit, as well as renamed the entire fic (Wards and Warnings was meant to be a temporary name; "Inori wo," or, roughly, "say a prayer," sounds better and just fits the fic better, I hope._

_It's been a tough year already, and I won't lie, emotionally and mentally it's been tough times. But everything is calming down, and I'm doing a lot better, so please look forward to more- and better- chapters, updated much more often. Thanks to everyone who's been following along! : )_

_Also: please leave some form of contact info in any anonymous reviews if you ask a question, or I can't reply to it. I appreciate any and all feedback so keep it coming guys!_


	6. Downtime

**Inori wo**

Chapter 6: Downtime

* * *

One week, four days until Hogwarts.

It was the day after the inspection. Dumbledore had cancelled, in the end, though he did floo call to express his regrets at missing the show with an excuse about a meeting with the Minister. "The aurors were quite satisfied," he had added, eyes doing that weird twinkly thing in amusement. No doubt Tonks had said something. Harry, for his part, tried to quell his feelings of abandonment that were more habit than resentment; Dumbledore was a busy man and he tried to ignore the twinge of shame at taking up so much of the aging man's time.

It was morning at the Burrow. The calendar on the wall showed a countdown for Hogwarts- '12 DAYS' was displayed in glowing letters that hovered slightly over the crossed-out days. Harry drained his second cup of coffee. The group had been up late the night before in a sort of mini-celebration; it was still hard to believe that Harry was free of his awful relatives, and Mrs. Weasley was beside herself with joy. Bill had stayed until the wee hours of the morning, joining forces with Hermione to ask questions of Minamino, while the twins spiked the juice and tea. Urameshi had realized it first and the stuff was swapped out with harmless substitutes before anyone got more than a little drunk- their punishment was to clean the mess left by the Burrow's guests and inhabitants- but the twins had vanished, as had an eager Urameshi, who was set on getting some of their stash.

Harry yawned sleepily, feeling the coffee slowly waking up his mind and body. It was Urameshi who first came into view, looking as though he'd slept a full night instead of only a few hours.

"Good morning," he said cheerfully, helping himself to the coffeepot, and the young wizard managed a "'goo'morn'n" back. "I didn't think anyone would be up so early."

Harry smiled at him. "I was hoping to talk to Minamino," he admitted. "Before Herm- err, the others come downstairs."

Urameshi chuckled and sat down across from him. "You'll soon get your chance. He's just packing up now." He sipped his drink and grimaced. "Wizard coffee," he shook his head.

"It tastes the same, mostly," Harry protested good-naturedly.

"It's _sweet_." Urameshi complained. "It shouldn't be sweet till after I want it to be." But he was soon on his third mug. "So why d'you want to talk to the great Shuichi?"

Harry shrugged a bit self-consciously. "I just wanted to thank him, I guess. I mean, he didn't have to do this for me. I don't get why he didn't want to get paid for it either."

Urameshi leaned forward to poke him in the ribs and Harry let out a very manly squawk.

"He gets bored sometimes, you know? There's not all that much to do in Japan right now, and he doesn't really like not having anything to do. Mind you, I prefer lying around or wrestling with Kuwabara or something, but..." he shrugged. "Anyway, you're probably doing him a favor. And we get to travel around, which is cool. I've never been too far from Japan before. Mostly," he added, more for himself.

Harry fidgeted. "I guess... I'm not used to people doing things just to be nice, you know? It's always got a reason behind it." He gulped down more of his coffee to hide his nervousness. He wasn't good at this whole opening-up-to-strangers thing. But the foreigners were just the kind of people he felt he could talk to, just a little at least. "There's always strings attached, usually to my name."

"Hrrmm." Urameshi scratched his head, looking at the ceiling in thought. It was an unusual expression for him. "I see what you mean. It gets tiring, don't it..." Harry gave him a confused look and he deflected it by changing the subject.

"So how old are you, anyway? You look around the same age as us."

"I'm 15, now. You guys look way older than that."

Urameshi grinned at him. "Well, Minamino's 17 now, he's almost out of high school already and stuff. Kuwabara and I're 16."

Harry almost spat out his coffee. "What! I thought you guys were way older!"

"Nope." Urameshi winked and stood to pour himself more coffee.

"What about Hiei?"

"Huh? Oh..." Urameshi paused, concentrating for an unbelievable second time. Harry thought he could smell something burning. "Eh, beats me. I'll have to ask him sometime."

Before Harry could ask him anything else, Ron and Hermione wandered into the kitchen, bickering about the importance of summer homework. Harry grinned at his friends and they made small talk until breakfast.

* * *

Kurama was in his room long after the rest of the household had gathered for breakfast. He packed his belongings carefully, wrapping fragile jars and ingredients in socks and shirts to keep them from jostling around inside his suitcase. The events from before - the group of Death Eaters that had gotten far too close to the Burrow for comfort, without them even realizing it - had sealed his decision to leave as soon after the inspection as possible. It was one thing to endanger himself for his own selfish interests.

He would not put others in danger because of it; especially not children. And the Potter boy attracted enough danger as it was just by _breathing_.

A knock on his door halted his thoughts and preparations and he called out a quick, "It's open."

Frizzy brown hair and intelligent brown eyes - Granger.

"I'm sorry to bother you." She slipped into the room and closed the door behind her. "I had to sneak away, I just wanted to ask you a couple things, if that's okay." She tucked some hair behind her ear shyly.

"Of course. Ask away." Kurama folded some more shirts to use as padding for several vials of a multicolored potion. She stood awkwardly near the door and he gestured to the tidy bed with a friendly smile.

"Thanks." She sat cross-legged at the edge. "I was just wondering about a couple things. About the warding, I mean. I promised not to take notes and I won't, but I haven't been able to find any information about the kind of wards you did, and some of the symbols."

"And you won't, I'm sure." Kurama turned to face her, leaning against the desk. "Most of what I did was either improvised or custom designed. That's what makes the wards hard to penetrate," he explained patiently. "The combination of Sanskrit, runes, and other symbols were carefully picked because they rarely work well together. It is usually best not to mix them, but I did plenty of experimentation long before I began doing wards professionally."

He smiled more easily, trying to put her at ease. She was eager to learn more, but he could tell there was something more that she wanted to ask him; something big, at least in her eyes. She fidgeted a moment, then finally blurted out,

"Why did you really agree to do the wards?"

His smile turned into a pleased grin. "I thought you would be the one to ask." He pushed stray hair out of his eyes. "I have my reasons, miss Granger, but I assure you, they are in no way harmful to yourself or anyone in this household."

She eyed him carefully, looking for signs of deception.

"Is it because of Harry? Because of... because he's the Boy-Who-Lived?"

"No."

His blunt honesty seemed to placate her, at least for the moment. She relaxed.

"Good." After a moment, she added, "Can I ask a few more questions? You did this interesting hand motion when you waved the athame..."

* * *

Urameshi and Kuwabara were the first to leave. They declined the offer to use the Floo, eyeing the fire warily, and arrangements were made for them to get to the airport. Hiei vanished at some point during the day, no one but Minamino seemed to knew when; he was there and then he wasn't, and it was so very Hiei of him that no one thought to ask where he'd gone.

Remus came to help Minamino back to Genkai's temple. After many goodbyes, thank-yous, and a large basket of leftovers from Mrs. Weasley (as well as a small box from Fred and George, which Kurama wasn't sure whether to chuck into the trash when he got home or study the contents of), he bid them a farewell.

Harry watched him disappear through the green flames, a strange feeling in the back of his mind telling him that he would be seeing them all again soon.

The house didn't take long to return to normal, if that word could be used to describe the Burrow on any given day. The house shook as something exploded in the kitchen care of the twins; Harry lost miserably at chess against Ron. Hermione and Ginny attempted to bond by exchanging reading material and deciding to play card games instead. Luna wandered over at some point for a last-minute homework session before the new year began.

And thus, Harry settled in for a relaxing week before he would begin his fifth year at Hogwarts.

* * *

In Japan, things were not as quiet. Kurama managed to elude the dark lord's men for the most part, but every time he vanished under their noses (or, rather, above them; usually he just scaled a wall or fire escape or hid in a tree.) or bested them in close combat, Voldemort's interest - and impatience - grew even more.

* * *

_A/N: Hey guys! It's been nearly a year since my last chapter; I am so very dearly sorry about that. What with strange class times, many kinds of medical and emotional dramas, and life in general, I admit that fanfiction (reading and writing, sadly) had to be put on the back burner for a long time. Buuut I'm back, and already getting ready for the GOOD part of this story to get started. c:_

_Now, I am aware there might be some inconsistencies between the two series, i.e. character ages, a few facts played around with, and so on. If any of it gets really bad (I slip up, make a mistake, timelines don't make sense, etc.), PLEASE let me know so I can fix it!_

_Because it's been so long, my writing style has changed very dramatically, as have my ideas for where this story was headed. So here's to an interesting ride, guys._

_Also, sorry about the short chapter... I'd rather upload a shorter chapter than one with fillers in it though._

_Thanks to everyone who's still reading, and I hope you enjoy!_


	7. No Rest For the Wicked

Inori wo

Chapter 7: No Rest For the Wicked

(Or, Kurama Hates It When His Actions Have Consequences.)

* * *

The demon world, known to the Japanese as the _Makai_, is a terrible, wonderful place. That is- terrible for anyone wanting to live very long, and wonderful for those demons that were lucky enough to survive a usually short and messy childhood. The strange beings that inhabit such a cruel space learned to adapt eons ago. Ignoring the innumerable physical differences, demons could change their patterns at will- after much practice, of course. There were some demons that awoke once every two hundred and seventeen years exactly to feast on solar flares. Others could stay awake for weeks without tiring. But no conscious thing can stay awake forever, and even these masters of their own sleep cycles had to rest.

Kurama, meanwhile, could function for days with no rest, if it came to that. But his favorite thing to do after busy activities was to sleep in on rainy mornings. While his beloved flora opened their leaves and sang unearthly lullabies to the rain, he would lay in bed and listen, half dreaming. Even Hiei knew better than to disturb him on overcast mornings without good reason.

It was a Sunday morning, which, as everyone knows, are the very best days for rainy sleep-ins. There was a dull thud against the window. Kurama cracked open one eye, stared down the owl that perched behind the glass, and pulled the comforter over his head. The owl was Not Happy. It was wet and damnit, it had flown a VERY long way. It pecked at the glass. An arm slid out from under the covers and groped for the pen on the nightable, throwing it at the source of the noise. With an angry squawk, muffled by the letter in its beak, the owl flew upwards and began scratching the glass furiously with its claws.

Lovely.

"It's Sunday, you know," Kurama informed the bird crossly. The owl had the decency to look a bit guilty, pretending it understood what a Sunday was and why it had anything to do with an owl anyway. Kurama opened the window and let the wet thing fly in, landing on the warm bed and shaking itself dry. It returned the redhead's glare with an anxious hoot and, hoping to placate him, it hopped onto the warm, dry pillow instead.

Kurama sighed. "Really?" He muttered, picking up the envelope the owl had dropped on the floor before him. "I haven't gotten much sleep, you know," he scolded the animal. It didn't have to know he didn't need that much. Besides, it was an owl; it didn't really care either way except that Kurama was scary when he didn't want to be awake. Said scary fox demon ripped the envelope open on one end and slid the parchment out. He skimmed it, caught the words 'family and friends' and 'excruciating death by torture,' and decided to read the entire thing.

There was a purposeful rustle by the window, rather like a polite cough, and Kurama turned to see Hiei stick his head into the window, upside-down. The redhead waved him in quickly and Hiei sat on the bed without bothering to dry himself off.

"I think," Kurama said conversationally, as if commenting on the weather, "that it might be time to move."

Hiei reached out and grabbed the parchment, decided he didn't feel like taking the time to translate the angry-looking English writing, and handed it back. "Hn."

Kurama took pity on him and read it out loud.

"'Dear Minamino-Hatanaka,' something about the weather in England here, 'My loyal followers have found your real name and family home in Japan'- my address, something about coming here within a week 'should My demands not be met to My satisfaction,' several paragraphs describing what potions and wards he wants- oh, lovely, he found out I offer those too?- and then several more paragraphs with explicit detail about what he'll do to my mother and stepfather. They seem to be confused about whether or not I am my stepbrother. I'll just let them stay confused, shall I?"

Hiei tilted his head. "You won't be needing the owl then, will you?"

Kurama murmured something noncommittally, then snapped his head up at the loud SQUARK coming from the direction of his bed. He eyed the feathers and blood, and scorch marks on his headboard, and twitched. Before he could say anything to Hiei, however, a blue streak caught his eye from the window and Botan flew in on her oar, landing gracefully.

"Kurama, Hiei." She nodded at them both, smiling brightly. "It's been a while, hasn't it?"

Hiei grunted and bit the head off his fried owl. Botan stared and grimaced, then looked away, turning a bit green when she saw the blood. "Oh, ew. Eugh."

Kurama smiled pleasantly at her, though it looked a bit strained. He had been expecting her, though he was hoping she would show up much later. Say, in a few years. "Good morning, Botan. How are you?"

The ferry girl's skin turned less green until it was its usual paleness. "Koenma wants to see you. He said it's urgent." Then she added, with a conspiratory glance around, "He looked kind of peeved. What did you do?"

Kurama looked politely confused. "Why would I have done anything?"

Hiei couldn't quite contain his snort and tried to look as innocent as possible when the other two stared at him; it looked unnatural and they both shuddered.

"Well, hop on then." Botan said cheerfully. "Lots of work to do, you know. Hiei, you coming too?"

He 'hn'ed. "If I must."

"You don't." Kurama told him. Hiei ignored him and stood upright at the end of the oar.

"Here we go!" Botan chirped, and they lifted off.

* * *

Yusuke answered his phone in mid-ring. "Y'ello?"

Kuwabara's voice said, "We have a problem."

"Oh. Uh, yeah. I kind of was just fixing it. You too, huh?"

Yusuke stepped over the unconscious body of a man in one of those black robes he called a dress. The man's white mask had shattered. While he was wearing it. There was a hole in the kitchen wall; Atsuko would be pissed. They'd just gotten the house a few months ago.

"What do you mean, fixing it? Did they come to your house too?"

"More like _through_ it." He nudged the second man with his socked foot. "D'you think insurance covers wizard explosions?"

"Wizard explosions? Did they explode or did they make something else explode?"

The first man groaned and touched his bleeding face. He let out a shrill scream. Yusuke kicked him in the head and he shut up.

"Err, no. They made something else explode. But now I'm thinking of exploded wizards and, eww."

"I'll call genkai and get her to call Koenma."

"Alrighty. Kurama might have beat us to it, he hasn't been answering his phone."

"I'll let her know."

There was a click and Yusuke sat on his debris-covered floor and waited.

* * *

"_What in the _hells _were you _THINKING?!" Koenma was in teenager form, and leaned across the desk. Kurama looked mildly surprised and not at all intimidated. Hiei sat in the corner and ruined Kurama's attempt at seeming innocent when he said,

"I was wondering when he'd find out."

"You are far finding this much too amusing." Kurama warned him. Koenma's face took on an unattractive purple.

"I already covered for you once, Kurama," he snapped. "I hid your family in return for the Potter job. But you didn't tell me that you were WORKING for VOLDEMORT!"

Kurama frowned and straightened in his chair. "I wasn't working for Voldemort," he said, as though explaining to a child why the sun was hot. "I told you that I was making level-4 potions for a professor of magic in Britain."

Koenma let out a colorful string of swears that made even Kurama raise an eyebrow. "I didn't know you poke the Yrejqk dialect," he said, sounding almost impressed.

"Hn." Hiei blinked. "I didn't know he knew _most_ of those."

Koenma took that as a slight against his intelligence (since that was most of what came out of Hiei whenever he was in his office) and actually calmed down so he could glare at the fire demon, who was unaffected. Kurama took the chance to explain.

"I did give him several potions. They were all level-4 or below, and all correspondence was through a Severus Snape. I didn't know until you asked me about the warding job that he was a professor at Potter's school, and I had no direct contact with Voldemort until the threats started. Speaking of which..."

Kurama took the folded letter from his pocket and tossed it at Koenma. His face and tone changed from polite to cold, with a dash of dangerous.

"He could not have known my human address. Until now, all letters and potions orders were delivered to an off-the-grid mailbox in-between a bar and a host club on the other side of town."

Koenma stilled and looked up from the letter slowly. He coughed. "I wonder how he could have-"

Kurama's hands slammed down on the desk and he looked directly into Koenma's startled face, which turned into a toddler's inches from his own. His eyes glittered and were more gold than green.

"I wonder," he hissed, "if perhaps he found out from... other sources." His eyes narrowed and were more terrifying. "From say, someone in this office."

Koenma was paler than the envelope the parchment letter had come in and he scrambled backwards, hand hovering over a red button in the wall behind him. Kurama sat down again, all traces of the Youko gone. He crossed his legs and examined his nails.

"Now, I admit that I am less worried about how he found it, and why." His voice was smoother than high-class wine. He waited patiently and scraped an imaginary bit of dirt from under his thumbnail.

Koenma seemed to regain some composure and glanced at Hiei warningly when a short came from his direction. Hiei remained stone-faced.

"It was an order from my father," he revealed after some hesitation. "I think he wants to see what you will do. It wasn't my idea," he spluttered when Kurama gave him a disbelieving look.

"I... see." Kurama was beginning to realize that his actions had, perhaps, worse consequences than he had anticipated. "And now?"

"Well, err." Koenma cleared his throat and attempted to regain some control over the meeting. "I can protect your family, of course. But-"

His phone rang, making him jump, then flush a bit in embarrassment. He snatched up the receiver. "What!" He snapped. Then he colored again, a bit darker. "Oh, yes. Hello, Genkai. What is it? I'm in a meeting... uh huh. Yes, Kurama is here. Hiei too. Uh... huh. I see. I- yes, yes. Okay." He hung up.

Kurama waited patiently.

"Err." Koenma cleared his throat again. "We might have a problem."

Kurama nodded politely and even smiled. An ogre burst into the office.

"Err, sir," Jorge said quickly. "Urameshi and Kuwabara are here to see you. It's urgent, they said."

The two shoved past him without waiting for a response. "What on earth is- oh, hey Kurama. Hiei." Yusuke nodded at them. "We were looking for you, actually," he added to the redhead. "Some wizards put a hole in my mom's new kitchen."

"They came round my place too," Kuwabara added. "Shizuru got one as I was coming home. I got the other one though."

Kurama kept the smile on his face as he turned to the desk Koenma was attempting to hide underneath.

"Koenma." He said calmly.

"Er." The toddler's head poked up and he pretended as though he'd been doing something important. "Yes?"

"Why does Voldemort know where Yusuke and Kazuma live?"

As it had dawned on Yusuke and Kuwabara that they were missing something important, they turned to the toddler as well and crossed their arms.

"I'm sure," Kurama went on, "that it wasn't _you_ who told them, correct?"

"He what? Why?" Yusuke demanded.

"Hey!" Koenma snapped. "Need I remind you this is all _your_ fault, Kurama?"

Yusuke and Kuwabara turned as one to Kurama, waiting for answers.

Hiei waited in the corner, face impassive. Inwardly, however, he hoped that maybe this would teach Kurama about what was okay and probably not a good idea next time he was bored.

'Though,' Hiei admitted to himself, 'he's probably more upset that he got caught than anything else.'

* * *

The hours-long meeting had left the entire office covered in reiki scorch marks, burnt paper, and bits of leaves and bark all over the floor and desk. The trip to Kuwabara's apartment was silent. Shizuru took one look at them and left to 'run errands,' despite it being about ten at night.

Kuwabara waited until she was gone until he said, "I'll make some coffee." He grabbed his cat and disappeared into the kitchen.

Yusuke nodded tiredly, running a hand through his messy (and in some places singed) hair. "I'll order a pizza or something."

"Here." Kurama tossed him a credit card.

Yusuke opened his mouth to ask something, then changed his mind and asked Hiei what he wanted to eat.

"Owl sounds good," Hiei suggested. Kurama glared at him.

"Right. Chinese it is then." He left quickly. Kurama sank a little more into the couch cushions, trying to figure out what this odd feeling in his gut was.

He flipped through his emotional rotary, landed on guilt, and sighed. Damnit.

In the kitchen, Yusuke hung up the phone and watched Eikichi sniff the coffeemaker on the counter.

"So," he said conversationally, his question implied. Kuwabara shrugged.

"Are you?" He countered.

To his credit, Yusuke only thought it over for about six seconds before he said, "Nah. I mean, yeah, Kurama messed up this time. But he never has before."

"Mm." Kuwabara leaned against the counter, keeping a safe distance from the old, and sometimes iffy, coffee machine. He let out a breath he might have been holding. "I'm not happy about it. It does put other people in danger. But you're right. He's _Kurama_. He's our teammate and, no matter what he does, he's also our _friend_." He admitted, "I can't even try to be angry."

The coffee began to boil into the pot.

"But damnit, I'm sure as hell even _more_ not happy with Koenma. I mean, seriously, _we_ didn't do nothin', so why'd he tell this wizard guy _our_ information?"

Yusuke rubbed his face. "He can't go against Enma. I know that. And I know Koenma didn't agree with it." He scowled at the counter. "Whatever reasons he had, though, I know that we're not gonna let Kurama go to England by himself. Those minion guys, they attacked _us_, too. Koenma'll keep his word and protect my mom and stuff but I'm not about to sit around and let them attack."

"Good."

The reply came from above them and they both jumped, instincts kicking in and then subsiding when they realized Botan was standing in the corner. She hopped off her oar, unsmiling.

"Good?" Kuwabara questioned.

The blue-haired grim reaper smiled this time, tightly. "Koenma sent me to help. You're right, he doesn't agree with Enma's orders. He can't overtly defy him, but he _can_ help you in other ways. Enma might want you guys out of the way but Koenma won't sit back and let it happen. You guys have all helped him, and the world, out too much for that."

Yusuke grinned at her. "Yeah well. He got a plan?"

"Well, you already know that he hinted to some of the wizards you guys met about hiring Kurama to help out at the school the Potter kid goes to." Botan waited for their nods and added, "I think he found a way for _all_ of you to go. So he gave me this." She held up a black envelope marked 'confidential' in white kanji. "Once we read it, it'll burn up. So we'll wait for everyone to get to Genkai's first."

The doorbell rang and Kuwabara went to answer it. "Food?" He asked hopefully, opening the door.

The delivery boy was pushed to the side by an irate Keiko, who stormed in past Kuwabara and yelled, "_Yusuke!_"

"Oh dear." Kuwabara took the food and nodded at Kurama, who came to sign for it. "I'd better go help him out."

"He'll be fine," Hiei grunted from is sudden spot by the open door, making the delivery boy shriek in surprise.

"Of all the stupid-" SLAP! "Seriously, _England_?! What are you THINKING-"

Kurama smiled charmingly at the poor boy, grabbed the food from him, and handed him a nice tip. He slammed the door in his face and retreated back to his spot on the couch, waiting for the yelling to die down.

Yusuke rubbed the red handprint on his face and scowled at Botan, who coughed delicately and managed to pull Keiko into the living room and distract her with Yusuke's order of spring rolls.

* * *

_A/N: Hey guys! I really hope this chapter isn't too confusing. I'm trying to keep it a bit vague until chapter 8._

_A slightly longer chapter this time, hoorah. :3 I was a bit lost with this story after the last chapter and almost considered just ending it until I solved a few problems and tweaked a few plot points. I finally have a good direction again. This story has actually gone through several transformations since I first thought it up; I like to think it changes as much as I do. -w-_

_Please let me know what you think! I'm actually much happier with this chapter than any of the others and I hope you are too!_

_-Pairou._


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